Vaal LGBTI’s members making their way to a cop shop to handover a memorandum. Picture by Reginald Nhlapo

by SMANGA KUMALO and REGINALD NHLAPO

Enough is enough, End heterosexual privilege equal rights for all and Love women who love women; these and more were messages displayed on placards as members of the Vaal LGBTI (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Trans-gender & Intersex) made their way to Mafatsane police station in Evaton to tone their cry and seek justice on hate crime and racism on Tuesday morning.

The well attended march was supported by the ANCYL, Young Communist League (YCL), COSATU and members of the community.

LGBTI Project Manager, Lindiwe Nhlapo said they want police and residents to know that bisexuals do exist.

This comes after a member of the LGBTI was raped and found killed.

The mutilated body of Matshidiso Melamu was found dumped in an open ground next to Mopholosi Secondary school.

During the terror, Melamu’s breasts were cut off and body burnt with acid while her friend who was also raped managed to escape.

“We want justice to take its cause. Residents must know that we do exist and they must stop killing us. We are human beings too; we are also tired of having our sexuality questioned whenever we try to open cases with police. People must accept and respect our rights,” Nhlapo said.

It is alleged that three cases of rape have been reported but none of those were attended to or taken seriously by the cops.

“When we do follow up’s we are often told the investigating officer is on leave or the dockets are missing. Some of the cases go unreported because queers are afraid to be discriminated against,” fumes Nhlapo.

Sello Maetso, Vaal SACP General Secretary said christians must acknowledge that gays and lesbians exist in the country.

“We must not wait for someone to be killed so we can march. We must work in unity,” Maetso concluded.

The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng has moved swiftly in calling for improved quality pass amid top matric results which were announced on Tuesday.

In a statement issued Khume Ramulifho, MPL DA Gauteng Shadow MEC of Education said, “We will be asking Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, to provide a breakdown of passes for each school in the province to ensure that targeted interventions are made to improve the quality of passes in 2016.”

“The quality of passes opens doors for more opportunities. The success of this province is dependent on young people who work hard, prepared to create and utilise opportunities,” Ramulifho added.

Ramulifho congratulated learners who passed grade 12 in 2015 with strong emphasis to the Sedibeng district for being the best district in the country.

Gauteng took second position following the Western Cape (84.7%) with 84.2%. the DA believes that more emphasis is required to fix the education system especially at schools that fall within the quintile 1-3 (Schools in quintile1,2 and 3 have been declared no-fee schools, while schools in quintiles 4 and 5 are fee-paying schools).

“Many of these schools operate under difficult circumstances including overcrowding, lack of resources and socio-economic challenges. This will assist in redressing inequalities in our country,” Ramulifho concluded.

CUL-DE-SAC: Matric students writing their final examination. Photo: Sourced

Sedibeng East District under the leadership of Doris Moloi achieved the best results in 2015 matric examinations, beating the country’s other 80 districts, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced on Tuesday.

Sedibeng was followed by Gauteng West, the Overberg district in the Western Cape and Cape Metropolitan area.

“We congratulate Sedibeng for the best district performance. I should state that in the Free State, Thabo Mofutsanyana district led that province, Cradock led in the Eastern Cape and Vhembe district has the best result in Limpopo,”said Motshekga.